The editorial argues that private enterprise investment in R&D is
relatively low in New Zealand, and this is harming New Zealand's economy
long-term as our businesses aren't adding as much value to our exports
as we could. This is a concern the government shares.

Through
initiatives such as Callaghan Innovation and new forms of company
incubators, business investment in R&D has greatly expanded. According to Statistics NZ'sSurvey of Research and Development,
overall expenditure on R&D has grown by 23% since 2008 to $2.6
billion. Critically, private sector expenditure has grown by 31% over
the same period to $1.2 billion.

This is an excellent trend in
the right direction, but more needs to be done. We still lag behind
other small economies in terms of the percentage of our GDP spent on
R&D. Despite the recent growth we've experienced, our total spend is
1.27% of GDP, versus the OECD average of 2.38%. We're heading in the right
direction but it is critical for New Zealand's future that we continue
on
this path.

Overseas visitors pay $25 to visit. When my wife Jen and I visited the Treaty Grounds back in 2008, it was free for New Zealanders. We only had to show our drivers licenses to get in. From Saturday we would have to pay the $15. In its defence, the Trust that owns and operates the Treaty Grounds (the Waitangi National Trust) points out that it receives no government funding, and international tourist numbers have dropped as a result of the global financial crisis.

According to its 2013 annual report (from the Charities website), the Trust brought in $1.998m from ticket sales, tours and events at the grounds. There were small grants totaling $34,500 and interest and dividends of $427,000 for a total income of . That year, 100,000 people visited the grounds, 55% domestic and 45% international. The Trust made a loss of $298,835 for the 2013 year.

Extrapolating this out, assuming that the same number of people choose to visit the grounds regardless of the price, and that of the 55,000 domestic visitors at least half are adults, you'd net $412,500 in ticket sales at $15 a pop. The Trust would return to surplus with $114,000 to play with.

Labour leadership contender Grant Robertson states that he wants to be judged on his policies, not his sexuality. Fair enough - most Kiwis wouldn't care about his sexuality either. The oft asked rhetorical question "are we ready for a Gay Prime Minister?" - which the news media have asked us since the 2013 leadership contest - is really nonsense. The Waitakere man - the mythical creation of commentator Christ Trotter, the voting demographic who allegedly would take issue with Grant's sexuality - cares more about the pay in his pocket than the Prime Minister's sexuality.

In my view, Grant's main problem is his policies, not his sexuality. For the Waitakere man, who by Trotter's definition most likely owns his own small business (the "man with a white van"), policies such as a capital gains tax, increasing the minimum wage at a rate they can't afford to pay their staff, and compulsory variable KiwiSaver contributions are what make Grant (and Labour generally) an unattractive prospect.

Friday, 26 September 2014

I discovered on the campaign trail that quite a lot of politics these days is simply picking a winning trend, crafting a policy that sounds like you're doing a lot to make that trend happen, then taking credit for what's already happened.

This is great news and a winning trend for New Zealand. The report notes that this increase is in absence of government subsidies for PV installations, which is what the Greens propose.

The report concludes:

This level of interest currently exists with no support from the Government via subsidies and feed - in tariffs, and mostly under business models that require a large upfront investment. New types of business model such as that currently being trialled by Vector may remove some significant barriers to entry and increase the level of interest in installing PV.

Vector is running a lease based system in Auckland, which apparently has strong uptake. Which begs the question: why does solar need subsidies? If uptake is to continue at this rate, will subsidies actually accelerate the trend or simply be pocketed by people who are going to install solar systems anyway? The report doesn't go into these questions, but it does finish with this note:

High levels of grid - connected PV would contribute to renewable generation and may require new approaches to the management of the electricity grid to ensure that New Zealanders continue to have access to safe, reliable, and affordable energy.

I know from friends working in the sector that this is in fact the biggest challenge we face with the introduction of solar energy. According to Transpower, New Zealand's electricity grid was not built to manage a lot of distributed generation of electricity - it was built to facilitate the transmission of electricity mainly from one area (the South Island's hydro stations) to another (north of the North Island, where 50% of New Zealanders now live). So accelerating growth in solar energy is likely to lead to further costs down the line for consumers.

Monday, 22 September 2014

My sincere thanks to everyone who supported myself and National at the
general election. We're very pleased that National secured the party
vote here in Rimutaka. It was a challenging campaign and one full of
great experiences, debates and issues.

We know from the
booth-by-booth analysis that we won across central Upper Hutt and the
outlying suburbs, including Stokes Valley and Totara Park, both
traditional Labour areas. Avalon and Manor Park were 50/50. However the
southern booths remain a struggle.

I will remain engaged on the
issues that matter to the people of Rimutaka, especially transport,
economic development and local authority amalgamation. A number of
people have asked if I will stand again - it's too early to say, as
that's a decision for the local Rimutaka members of the National Party.
If you want to be part of that decision in 2017, you'll need to keep
your membership up to date. Please remember to renew!

Over the
next three years we will continue to build the electorate organisation,
membership and fighting funds for our campaign in 2017. But for now I
can say that I'm proud to have represented the party and to have helped
many of the residents of Rimutaka.

Friday, 19 September 2014

New Zealand has come
through the GFC and the Christchurch earthquakes with a strong economy
that is delivering more for New Zealanders and their families. We need
another strong, stable National Government to keep
turning that progress into more jobs and long term prosperity.

MMP elections are always
close, even with the Opposition in disarray. Labour could still cobble
together a government with the Greens, Dotcom, and New Zealand First.
That would stall our economy and create economic
chaos.

The only way to deliver
another strong, stable National Government that will keep New Zealand
moving in the right direction is to PARTY VOTE NATIONAL tomorrow.

Monday, 15 September 2014

A re-elected National Government will focus on these priorities over the next three years:

Negotiate
and sign Free Trade Agreements including Korea, Trans-Pacific
Partnership, and the WTO Government Procurement Agreement so our exporters can compete on an equal footing in other economies and further lift our exports.

Introduce and pass the Resource Management Act reform package to provide more certainty, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness in resource allocation decisions.

Hold Kiwi expat Job Fairs in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne
to recruit skilled Kiwis for jobs back in New Zealand and help remove
skills constraints for key sectors of the New Zealand economy.

Deliver more skills relevant to industry
by setting up three new ICT Graduate Schools across New Zealand and
investing to lift the number of engineering graduates available to
employers.

Double the level of business R&D to 1 per cent of GDP by 2018 so that more of our innovative high-tech businesses succeed on the world stage.

Lift
the footprint of the Ultra-fast Broadband rollout from 75 per cent to
80 per cent of New Zealand and extend the Rural Broadband Initiative so that all parts of New Zealand have world-leading 21st Century broadband coverage.

Complete the passage of the Employment Relations Bill to ensure flexible labour markets that create more jobs for Kiwis.

Deliver Inland Revenue’s Business Transformation Project and simplify the tax system for (small and medium-sized businesses) so that New Zealand businesses spend less time calculating their tax and more time working on their business.

Accelerate petroleum and minerals exploration through our new data acquisition programme so that we increase exploration further from the $1 billion spent last summer.

Roll out the next stages of the Roads of National Significance and key regional roading projects so that we remove chokepoints and improve the resilience of New Zealand's core land transport system.

National
understands that it is only by having a strong economy that we can lift
opportunities and incomes for Kiwi families, and provide world-leading
public services. See more of our plan this election here.

Our
Business Growth Agenda, along with our strong economic management and
responsible management of the Government’s finances, will help turn the
gains of the last few years into a sustained long-term lift in New
Zealand's prosperity.

Sunday, 14 September 2014

National has
always been ambitious for New Zealanders and confident about what we can
achieve at home and on the world stage.

Come Saturday,
New Zealand voters have an opportunity to build on the significant gains this
country has made under National over the past six years, and keep heading in
the right direction.

We are a
Government with a track record of delivering for New Zealanders.

When we were
first elected in 2008, New Zealand had been in recession for almost a year –
well before the global financial crisis – and the Government faced never-ending
deficits and debt rising into the future. Two years later, Christchurch was
rocked by the first devastating earthquake.

Over the past
six years, the John Key-led Government has earned the trust of New Zealanders
by being clear about our plan for turning things around and delivering on our
promises.

We supported
the most vulnerable through the recession and set a path back to surplus this
year.

We are helping
New Zealand businesses become more competitive so they can create more jobs and
lift incomes.

We are
delivering better public services – educational achievement is rising, more New
Zealanders are moving from welfare and into work, and the crime rate is the
lowest for 35 years.

And we are
continuing to help the people of Christchurch to rebuild their lives.

The next steps
in our plan will work to lock in the gains of the last six years to create a
long-term lift in New Zealand’s prosperity.

We will keep
government spending under control, stay in surplus, and start reducing debt.

We will keep
encouraging the investment and enterprise needed to create new jobs and
increase incomes.

We will focus
on rewarding New Zealanders’ hard work. We’ll do that by further reducing
government ACC levies – the equivalent of a tax cut for households and
businesses, and by reducing income taxes for lower and middle income earners in
2017, should fiscal conditions allow.

We will work
for Kiwi families by investing in teacher quality, free doctors’ visits for
under-13s, extending paid parental leave, and helping more Kiwis into their
first home.

And we will
work for local communities by continuing to support more Kiwis from welfare to
work, shorten hospital waiting times, reduce crime, and invest in better roads,
broadband, and public transport.

The alternative
is changing course with risky, unproven policies that would stall the economy
through five new taxes and more wasteful government spending.

This election
the choice is stark. Your party vote for National will help keep New Zealand on
the path to prosperity. A vote for any other party is a vote to take us in a
different direction.

Monday, 8 September 2014

National’s clear economic plan and careful financial management is taking New Zealand in the right direction.

Our plan means our
economy is growing. We’re creating new jobs and wages are rising.
Families are doing better and we’re succeeding on the world stage.

However, one or two
years of good growth does not change the economic prosperity of a
nation. We need to stay on course to really lift our long-term economic
performance, and see more New Zealanders in work,
owning their own homes, getting the healthcare they need and the
opportunities they want for their children.

The only way we can do that and grasp the many opportunities we have as a country is by having a strong, growing economy.

In this election, only
National can credibly offer three more years of the strong and stable
government that’s needed to keep the economy growing. Our economic plan
is straightforward and we’ve set out our priorities.

A re-elected National
Government will return to surplus this year and stay there so we can
reduce debt. Reducing government debt puts New Zealand in a better
position to cope with any future economic shock or
natural disaster.

We’ll cut ACC levies on
households and businesses by around 30 per cent. That’s between $700
million to $900 million a year – the equivalent of a tax cut.

And, so long as it’s
affordable, we’ll start modestly reducing income taxes for lower and
middle income earners from 1 April 2017 because National believes in
rewarding New Zealanders’ hard work and enterprise.

We’ll use any further
financial headroom to get to our target of 20 per cent net debt to GDP
sooner than 2020. Then we can resume contributions to the New Zealand
Super Fund.

In addition, National
will help to keep interest rates lower for longer by reducing government
spending to below 30 per cent of GDP from 35 per cent in 2011. Our
focus will remain relentlessly on targeting that
spending where it delivers better results for New Zealand families.

New Zealanders have a
stark choice this election. They can continue to support National and
its clear economic plan that is working for New Zealand, delivering
sustainable economic growth, and helping households
get ahead

Or they can put all the
gains and the growth in jobs and wages at risk by changing course.
Under an unstable combination of Labour, the Greens, and Dotcom the
economy would stall. They would introduce five new
and unnecessary taxes and create a wave of wasteful government
spending. They would undermine the confidence necessary for businesses
to invest now for future growth and more, higher paying jobs.

National’s clear, straightforward plan will keep New Zealand moving in the right direction.